fresh from my A+ exam....

[psabi]

Just got back from my A+ exam (I passed! Very pleased with my score on both sections!) and wanted to convey my experience to others that are seeking the same cert. Granted, the exams use questions from a large pool but I those seeking the cert might be hungry for a recent experience.

There were no questions on dealing with Win3.1 (no surprise) but there was limited attention paid to DOS and no DOS memory management questions whatsoever (kinda surprised). Heavy empasis on Windows NT4 Workstation; no server questions (NT4 or Win 2K).

I know later this year the test is going to the adaptive format, I believe the CompTIA site says when.

good luck!

[steveo]

Congrats on passing and welcome to the ranks of A+!

I wrote in the exam in Jan/01 and it sounds like our exams (comptia) were considerably different. Granted the questions are drawn from a pool of about 1000 so one never knows exactly the kind of questions they will draw. Unlike you I had a few dos memory management, some win3.1/win95, the registry, and general troubleshooting. Although I understand dos is being dropped or already has been dropped from the course I believe this is a mistake. In the tech lab I work at we do a lot of work in dos, even if it's something as simple as moving large blocks of data from one hard drive to another, setting file attributes, using smartdrv, installing drivers or creating/modifying our own config/autoexec files.

On a sidenote, my exam was adaptive so the questions became harder as the exam wore on but displaying a twist of irony, one of my last questions dealt with a dot matrix printhead, go figure...

[psabi]

thanks!

I assume the A+ you took was on the '98 objectives. I was actually disappointed with the fact there was limited DOS (mainly because I dedicated extra review time). In any case, I would concur with your view on DOS - that it should be included. As for 3.1, there is no love lost for me. I actually have my 3.1 floppies (I think there are 7 including the font disks) that I was considering installing on an old box and connect to my home network. And then I decided I didn't care anough...

As for your comment about the adaptive part, you might have gotten the previous answers wrong, that's why they hit you with the ever-contemporary dot matrix stumper... http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

The most unexpected question on my test:

What type of extinguisher do you use to put out a monitor fire?

[tjaymadison]

Sawdust? Blanket? Bacon grease ???
(if you really hate that particular monitor and can't otherwise justify the upgrade) http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

------------------
"I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage, mathematician, computer pioneer, analytical engine designer (1791-1871)
-- (Question: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?')

"Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand."
-- Homer Simpson

[psabi]

tj - LOL

The fire question was strange - if your monitor is on fire, you ARE WAY past having the local "computer guy" help you - anyway, you shouldn't be calling the IT department - you should be calling the fire department.

Not sure how often the monitor fire situation pops up, but I guess it's all fun and games until some bored user says "...if my computer is 500mhz, should I match the refresh rate to that?..."

(BTW the answer to the test question was a Class C extinguisher)

[Revjapaca]

How much can a person with A+ cert expect to make per hour / year on avg?